Single unit accounting system



Ncwa'2'4, 1942. L. o. GARDNER SINGLE UNIT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 11, 1940' llllllllall.

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Patented Nov. 24, 1942 SINGLE UNIT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Leonard Dixon Gardner, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Application December 11, 1940, Serial No. 369,538

13 Claims. 7 (Cl. 282-1)' My invention relates in general to articles used in accountancy, and relates in particular to a combined envelope and manifold of sheets to simultaneously receive indicia.

A purpose of my present invention is to prevent unnecessary duplication of Work and to avoid error, thereby minimizing th cost, effort and time required to prepare duplicate material, parts of which are to be distributed and parts of which are to be retained at the place of making. Although not limited thereto my invention is of particular value in preparing and sending out periodic statements and the simultaneous forma-- tion of ofiice copy sheets retained for accountancy and for record. The invention permits the collection of several counterparts of the same material under one attachment or form and facilitates the segregation and preservation of such counterparts, as will appear in the hereinafter disclosure of a simple preferred, form of the inven'tion.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of the character above set forth in general, which will facilitate the delivery of state-- ments of accounts to customers and the remit-- tance of payment therefor. It is an object of the invention to provide an envelope structure embracing a return envelope, having a flap which,

when open, permits access to the interior of the envelope whereby a remittance may be placed therein, this return envelop having areas designated for receipt of indicia, including customer identification, and an adjacent area for information, such as. an account receivable, with an attached manifold of novel form having on or more copy sheets'detachably retained in cooperative relation and having thereon areas aligned with th indicia receiving areas of the envelope, whereby, by employment of transfer means such as carbon sheets or carbon surfaces, the indicia applied to the envelope will be simultaneously applied to one or more sheets of the manifold.

It is a further object of the invention toprovide for use with an original indicia receiving member, such as a return envelope for example, a manifold comprising a plurality of sheets detachably secured to the original so as to simultaneously receive indicia, and having means connecting the several sheets in such manner that they will be held together in cooperative relation after they have been detached from the original, whereby further work maybe done on the detached sheets or in order that these sheets. will be retained together until final distribution thereof.

It is a further object of the invention to pro- Vide a return envelope having a fiap, the inner surface of this flap having indicia receiving areas, with a manifold assembly secured to the flap so as to .lie fiat thereagainst, this manifold comprising a customer copy sheet and at least one office copy sheet, whereby indicia may be simultaneously applied to the sheets of the manifold and the indicia receiving areas of the flap, there being provision made whereby the office copy sheets may be removed from the assembly prior to the detachment of the customers copy sheet from the flap. In the use of the invention it is possible to simultaneously write upon or imprint the envelope flap and the sheets of th manifold assembly, to detach the office copy sheets and to send the envelope with its attached customers copy to the customer, who may then detach his copy and use the return envelope for remitting payment, the flap of the envelope containing thereon the identification of the customer who has remitted the payment or to whose account it should be applied, and likewise a statement of the account thereby paid.

A further object of the invention is to provide an envelope and manifold assembly wherein one extreme portion of the customers copy sheet is secured to the envelope and the oilice copy sheets are connected to a detachable portion of the customers copy sheet formed at the other end thereof, whereby, by detachment of thi portion of the customers copy from th remainder thereof, the ofiice' copy sheets will be likewise detached from the assembly, there being an arrangement whereby the ofiice copy sheets are detachably secured tothe detachable portion of th customers copy sheet and accordingly are detachably secured together after their remova1 from cooperative relation to the envelope and the customers copy sheet,

A further object of the invention is to provide an envelope and manifold assembly in which the entire accounting material is embodied in one unit at all times, thus eliminating any possible error in posting from one sheet to another, or

embodiment of my invention wherein the inner face of the flap of a return envelope has indicia receiving areas thereon, and the manifold assembly is detachably secured so as to lie against the rear face of the flap.

Fig. 2 is a pers ective view of the manifold assembly of Fig. 1 prior to its attachment to the envelope, the free ends of the sheets of this assembly being swung into spaced relation so that portions of the underlying areas of the second and third sheets will be exposed.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of that portion of the manifold assembly which is removed from cooperative relation to the envelope and the customers copy sheet prior to the mailing of the same to the customer.

Fig. 4 is a face view, to reduced scale, of an envelope having therein the return envelope of Fig. 1, placed so that the customer identification, including the mailing address of the customer, will be visible through the window of the primary mailing envelope.

In Fig. 1 I show an envelope E having a flap F which is preferably for closure of the envelope E after a remittance has been placed therein. The area of the flap F, accordingly, is made sufficiently large to leave, after a securing means such as a strip of adhesive i has been placed along the free edge thereof, ample room for a customer identification area C and a statement area S and accompanying information for attention of the customer. Along the adhesive strip H] a. line of detachment i i may be formed, as by perforating, scoring or otherwise weakening the paper of the flap along the line I l to permit ready severance of the body of the flap F from the adhesive strip Iii. When the flap F is folded down in leftward or anti-clockwise direction into a position against the back ll of the envelope E, the mouth 83 of the envelope E will be thereby closed, and the envelope may be sealed by causing the adhesive strip ill to adhere to the lower part of the back [2 of the envelope.

As shown in Fig. 1, I provide a manifold assembly M which normally lies against the outer face of the flap F, but which is shown, for the purpose of illustration, swung rearwardly from the flap F. As shown in Fig. 2, the manifold assembly M comprises a customers copy sheet l4, and ofiice copy sheets 55 and l6. When the manifold assembly M is secured to the flap F, all of the sheets thereof will be held in cooperative relation to the fiap F, and on each ofthe sheets Hi, l5 and it there is a customer identification area 0 aligned with the area C of the flap F, and also on each of the sheets [4, l5 and Hi there is a statment area 8 aligned with the area S of the flap F. Accordingly, if transfer,

means, such as carbon sheets or carbon surfaces are applied between the flap F and the respective sheets l6, l5 and M, the imprinting of indicia,

for example, customer identification and mailingaddress in the area C will result in the production of the same indicia in the areas 0 of the The manifold assembly M is secured in cooperative relation to the flap F by connecting an extreme portion of the customers copy sheet M to the flap F. I prefer to accomplish this attachment by securing the upper left hand corner I! of the customers copy sheet [4 to the upper left hand corner l8 of the flap F as shown in Fig. 1, and by use of an-adhesive between the corners l1 and I8. Illustrative of this I have shown a layer of adhesive I9 on the corner ll of the copy sheet M, Fig. 2.

The office or accounting copy sheets 15 and I6 are shown with relieved upper left hand corners it, so that when the assembly M is connected to the flap F, such relieved corners 20 will clear the attached corners I! and I8 of the copy sheet M and the flap F. The copy sheets 15 and 16 are connected to the flap F through their connection with the customers copy sheet l4, which connection may be accomplished in the following manner. The customers copy [4 has extending rightward therefrom a separable portion 22 which may be separated from the copy sheet M along a line of separation 23, which line may be formed by perforating, slitting, or other wise weakening the paper of the copy sheet I4 so that the separable portion 22 may be torn therefrom by application of considerably less force than would be required to separate the corner H from the corner I8. The length of the body of the customers copy sheet 14 is preferably not greater than the length of the flap F, and the separable portion 22 is of such dimension that it will project beyond the rightward edge 24 of the flap F. The oflice copy sheets I5 and I6 are connected to the separable portion 22 so that by detachment of this separable portion 22, the copy sheets I5 and I6 may be removed from the assembly M or in other words from cooperative relation to the flap F and the customers copy sheet M.

The rightward ends of the ofiice copy sheets l5 and I8 are provided with separable portions 2'6 lying to the right of lines of separation 21 which likewise may be formed by perforations or slits in the paper forming the sheets l5 and I6 and the separable portions 26 thereof. These separable portions 26 of the sheets 15 and I6 are preferably secured to the separable portions 22 cy use of an adhesive therebetween.

From the following description of a use of my invention, it will be perceived that many separate operations in the making out of monthly statements are eliminated, and errors in transferring amounts from one sheet to another are avoided. As an example, the invention has valuable utility in keeping the accounts of, and the sending of statements to, customers such as those of petroleum product dealers who extend credit facilities to motorists. From the service stations of these companies the charge vouchers are sent in to the central omce where they are accumulated. At the end of each accounting period the amounts shown on the vouchers are added up, and in keeping with the status of the customers account, the statement figures 30 are either manually or machine applied in the statement area S, and simultaneously in the areas s of the cop sheets. At the same time the customer identification may be applied, but in preferred practice, the customer identification is pre viously imprinted on the area C of the flap F by use of an addressing machine, and such customer identification is simultaneously duplicated on the areas 0. Should the clerk make an error in the writing of amounts in the statement area S, the manifold assembly M may be swung back and the sheets thereof may be separated so as to make the necessary erasures thereon.

Afterv completion of the separation of the envelope and manifold assembly in the manner just described, the corner I8 may be manually engaged by the right hand, and then by gripping the separable portions 22 and 26 between the thumb and finger of the right hand a slight pull in rightward direction may be exerted to detach the separable portion 22 from the customers copy sheet 14, thereby removing the office copy sheets I and 16 as a unit 35, Fig. 3. These copy sheets. [5 and Hi will remain connected together by their separable portions 26 and, if desired, portions of the accounting area a of the copy sheet 16 may be filled in, the same being transferred through to the .copy sheet I5 by the carbon, sheet disposed between the sheets 15, or by a carbon layer spotted on the back of the sheet [8. When the time for distribution of the sheets l5 and I6 to their respective allocations occurs, they may be readily detached from the separable portions 26.

After removal of the copy sheets [5 and Hi from cooperation with the flap F, the body e of the envelope E may be swung upwardly and rightwardly around the line of fold between the body 6 and the flap F to such position that the body s will lie in back of the fiap F and the customers copy sheet M which is attached thereto. Then, the envelope, so folded, with the normally inner face, of the flap F faced outwardly, may be placed in a window envelope 38 as indicated by dotted lines, and the customer identification contained on the flap F will appear through the window 39 of the maiiing envelope 38. Copies of the charge vouchers may also be inserted in the envelope 38. The customer receiving the envelope and customers copy sheet assembly, may readily detach his copy 14 from the flap. This is preferably accomplished by providing a diagonal line of separation 4! between the corner I8 and the body of the flap F so that the corner l8 may be readily disengaged from the fiap F. Thereafter the envelope E may be employed for remittance of payment, as previously described herein.

Other advantages, uses, and the operation of the single unit accounting system of my invention. will be readil understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains. While I have described the form of my invention which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the form shown is merely illustrative and that the invention is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which when open permits access to the interior of the envelope, a customer identification form in the lower portion of the inner surface of said flap and a statement form on another portion of the inner face of said fiap, and a manifold assembly removably attached to the outer surface of said flap, said manifold assembly comprising a customers copy sheet and an oflice copy sheet, said copy sheets each having acustomer identification form aligned with said customer identification form of said flap, and each having a statement form aligned with the statement form of said flap, so that when there is transfer means between said flap and said copies, the imprinting of customer identification on said customer identification form of said flap will resultv in the simultaneous application of.

customer identificationiintbe; customer. identifieation forms of said sheets, and the imprinting of amounts in said statement form of said flap will result in the simultaneous application of said amounts to the statement forms of said copy sheets, said ofllce copy sheet being detachably connected to said customers copy sheet so as to be removable from said flap independently of the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said fiap.

2. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a fiap which when open permits access to the interior of the envelope, a customer identification form in the lower portion of the inner surface of said flap and a statement form on another portion of the inner face of said fiap, and a manifold assembly removably attached by one corner thereof to the outer surface of said flap, said manifold assembly comprising a customers copy sheet and an oflice copy sheet, said office copy sheet having an accounting form defined thereon in a position disaligned from said customer identification and statement forms of said flap, and said copy sheets each having a customer identification form aligned with said customer identification form of said flap, and each having a statement form aligned with the statement form of said flap, so that when there is transfer means between said flap and said copies, the imprinting of customer identification on said customer identification form of said flap will result in the simultaneous application of customer identification in the customer identification form of said sheets, and the imprinting of amounts in said statement form of said flap will result in the simultaneous application of said amounts to the statement forms of said copy sheets, said office copy sheet being detachably connected to said customers copy sheet so as to be removable from said flap independently of the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said fiap.

3. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which when open permits access to the interior of the envelope, a customer identification form in the lower portion of the inner surface of said flap and a statement form on another portion of the inner face of said flap, and a manifold assembly removably attaohed to the outer surface of'said flap, said manifold assembly comprising a customers copy sheet and an oflice copy sheet, said copy sheets each having a customer identification form aligned with said customer identification form of said fiap, and each having a statement form aligned with. the statement form of said flap, so that when there is transfer means between said flap and said copies, the imprinting of customer identification. on said customer identification form of. said flap will. result in the simultaneous application of customer identification in the customer identification form of said sheets, and the imprinting of amounts in said statement form of said flap will result in the simultaneous application of said amounts to the statement forms of said copy sheets, said office copy sheet being detachably connected to said customers copy sheet so as to be removable. from said flap independently of the detachment of said customerscopy sheet from said flap, and said customers copy sheet being, connected to said flap by an attachment between a corner of said flap and a corner o said customers copy sheet.

4. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form, and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said flap so as to lie flat thereagainst, said assembly comprising a customers copy sheet and a plurality of ofiice copy sheets, each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said flap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said flap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said fiap and said copy sheets, said office i.

copy sheets being so formed and arranged as to be removable from their cooperative relation to said flap prior to the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said fiap, and there being means connecting said office copy sheets so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said flap.

5. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form, and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said flap, so as to lie fiat against the outer face thereof, said assembly comprising a customers copy sheet and a plurality of office copy sheets, each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said flap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said fiap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said copy sheets, said office copy sheets being so formed and arranged as to be removable from their cooperative relation to said flap prior to the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said flap, and there being means connecting said office copy sheets so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said flap.

6. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said flap so as to lie fiat thereagainst, said assembly comprising a customers copy sheet having one extreme portion thereof detachably connected to said flap, and a plurality of ofiice copy sheets detachably connected to the other extreme of said customers copy sheet, said copy sheets each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said fiap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said fiap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said copy sheets, said ofiice copy sheets being detachably connected to said customers copy sheet so as to be removable from cooperative relation to said flap by detachment from said customers copy sheet prior to the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said flap, and there being means connecting said ofiice copy sheet so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said flap.

7. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a fiap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form, and a manifold assembly detach ably connected to said flap so as to lie fiat thereagainst, said assembly comprising a first copy sheet having a corner thereof detachably connected to one corner of said flap, and a plurality of second copy sheets detachably connected to the other extreme of said first copy sheet, said copy sheets each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said flap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said flap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said copy sheets, said second copy sheets being detachably connected to said first copy sheet so as to be removable from cooperative relation to said flap by detachment from said first copy sheet prior to the detachment of said first copy sheet from said flap, and there being means connecting said second copy sheets so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said fiap.

8. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form; and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said flap so as to lie fiat thereagainst, said assembly comprising a customers copy sheet having a corner thereof detachably connected to one corner of said flap, and a plurality of ofiice copy sheets detachably connected to the other extreme of said customers copy sheet in such manner that copy sheets may be readily separated for the purpose of making corrections thereon Without detaching the same, said copy sheets each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said flap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said flap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said copy sheets, said office copy sheets being so formed and arranged as to be removable from their cooperative relation to said flap prior to the detachment of said cus tomers copy sheet from said flap, and there being means connecting said oifice copy sheets so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said flap.

9. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form, and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said fiap so as to lie flat ihereagainst, said assembly comprising a customers copy sheet having a corner thereof attached to a corner of said flap and having a separable portion at the end thereof opposite from said corner and an office copy sheet attached to said separable portion of said customers copy sheet, said copy sheets having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said fiap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said flap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said copy sheets, said ofiice copy sheet being removable from cooperative relation to said flap by detachment of said separable portion from said customers copy sheet prior to the detachment of said customers copy sheet from said flap.

10. A mailing envelope and manifold assembly as set forth in. claim 9, wherein the separable portion of said customers copy sheet projects beyond an edge of said flap for ease of manual engagement to accomplish separation thereof from the remainder of said customers copy sheet, and whereby the single operation of separating said separable portion from the remainder of said customer's copy sheet will remove said office copy sheet from the assembly.

11. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having a flap which has on the inner face thereof a customer identification form and a statement form, and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said flap so as to lie fiat thereagainst, said assembly comprising a sheet and a plurality of other sheets, each having a customers identification form aligned with said customers identification form of said flap and each having a statement form aligned with said statement form of said flap, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said flap and said sheets, said last-mentioned sheets being so formed and arranged as to be removable from their cooperative relation to said flap prior to the detachment of said first-mentioned sheet from said flap, and there being means connecting said last-mentioned sheets so that they will remain together after their removal from cooperative relation to said flap,

12. In a mailing envelope and manifold assembly of the character described, the combination of: an envelope having on a face thereof a form to receive indicia, and a manifold assembly detachably connected to said envelope so as to lie flat With relation to said face, said assembly comprising a sheet having one extreme portion thereof attached to said envelope and having a separable portion spaced from said portion thereof which is attached to said envelope, and a plurality of other sheets attached to said separable portion of said first-mentioned sheet, said sheets each having an indicia receiving form aligned with said indicia receiving form of said envelope, whereby, by the use of transfer means, indicia may be simultaneously produced in said forms of said envelope and said sheets, said last-mentioned sheets being removable from cooperative relation to said envelope by detachment of said separable portion from said first-mentioned sheet prior to the detachment of said first-mentioned sheet from said envelope.

13. An envelope and manifold assembly as set forth in claim 12, wherein said separable portion of said first-mentioned sheet is formed so as to project beyond an edge of said envelope, whereby it may be readily engaged so as to be detached from the remaining portion of said first-mentioned sheet to remove said last-mentioned sheets from said assembly.

LEONARD DIXON GARDNER. 

